


Harder

by Severina



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: tv-universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 06:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3840712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severina/pseuds/Severina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She didn't know how it was possible to get lost in a place as small as Storybrooke, but somehow she'd managed it. She supposed she should be thankful that she hadn't managed to inadvertently cross the town line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harder

**Author's Note:**

> Post Season Four. Written for a photo prompt (signpost in the snow) for tv_universe's Big Bang Inspirations on LJ
> 
> * * *

Belle should have known better.

They'd promised – promised! – to talk through their differences, not to pretend that everything was all right when they both knew it wasn't. And at the first sign of a quarrel what did she do? She ran off, like a child.

At first she'd simply drove, past the closed shop and the brightly lit windows of Granny's, anger fueling her as the wheels ate up the miles. The windshield wipers on their highest setting barely kept the snow at bay, and she squinted and hunched forward over the wheel, the painted lines on the road buried under a blanket of white. Her mind kept replaying the angry words they'd snapped at one another, repeating on an endless loop in her brain. When she turned onto a gravel path she only knew that she wanted to get away from the lights of the town, and she hardly noticed when the gravel turned to snow-packed earth. When the car lost traction and slipped to the side she sat and spun the tires for five minutes before slapping her palm on the steering wheel and hauling herself out of the Cadillac. She'd planned on simply walking back to the nearest house and… and then she didn't know what she'd do. Perhaps ask to use their phone and call Ruby, convince her friend to brave the storm to come pick her up. 

Except that there was no house. There were no electricity poles. No tire tracks but her own, and those were buried in fresh snow within a few minutes. Even the one signpost that she passed was unreadable due to the depth of the snow piled upon it. She didn't know how it was possible to get lost in a place as small as Storybrooke, but somehow she'd managed it. She supposed she should be thankful that she hadn't managed to inadvertently cross the town line. 

Belle slumped against a tree at the thought, shivered in her light jacket. Her hair was already a sodden mess, her clothes soaked beneath the inadequate coat, her feet frozen in boots that were made for fashion instead of practicality. She'd lost track of how long she'd been tramping through the knee-high drifts, stumbling from place to place. She was, she realized suddenly, a fool in more ways than one.

She shook her head as she straightened, wrapped her arms around her middle in a vain attempt to keep the cold at bay and spoke into the chill night air. "Rumplestiltskin?"

She was drawing breath to call again when the air in front of her shimmered with his magic and he appeared within the swirl of purple smoke, already striding toward her before the haze had even cleared. 

"Belle! I've been so worried, sweetheart—"

"I'm sorry!" she blurted before he could go any further. "I'm sorry that we argued, I'm sorry that I yelled at you, I'm sorry that I ran off like a spoiled brat instead of _listening_! I'm the one who insisted that we talk things out and at the first sign of trouble—"

His arms wrapped around her then, and his lips brushed her hair. "It's all right."

"No," she insisted, shocked that was close to tears. Her fingers clenched at the lapels of his suitcoat as she buried herself against him, breathed in the straw and wood smoke scent that he carried no matter what realm they were in. She shook her head. "It's not."

Rumplestiltskin drew back to look at her then, brushed a warm hand against her cheek. "We'll discuss it when we get home, yes? We need to get you out of these wet clothes—"

She caught at his hand before he could summon the magic to take them there, closed her fingers around his. "We _will_ discuss it, Rumple. All of it. I promise. I'm not going to run away again."

"I know. Nor will I."

She sniffed around a smile. The wind was still cold, the snow still falling in a thick wet blanket. But somehow she felt a little warmer just being in the circle of his arms. She tilted her head up to his. "It's a lot more difficult than expected, isn't it?" she asked. "Talking."

His return smile was equally watery. "We don't have much practice, I'm afraid."

"We'll get better," she said. "Besides, I'm not sure it's entirely our fault. Aside from when I first came to your castle I'm not sure we've had more than a few weeks together before—"

"Before a monster appears in our midst to separate us?" he finished.

"Or an angry father, or a kidnapped child, or a spiteful witch," Belle said with a shiver. 

"Belle—"

"Not anymore," Belle said fiercely. "This time, I'm keeping you. And no one is going to get in our way. Not even us."

She straightened then, lifted her chin. It had always been her habit to face things head on. She wasn't sure when that had changed, when it had become easier to run away or pretend instead of tackling a problem and fixing it, but she didn't intend to fall back into bad habits. "Now let's go home," she said. "And if you could manage to have a fire already burning in the hearth when we get there, my frozen toes would greatly appreciate it."

He lifted their clasped hands together to brush his lips against her chilly knuckles. "As my lady wishes," he murmured against her skin before releasing her hand and waving his fingers in the air.

"Oh," she added quickly, biting her lip, "and I think… I think I broke the car."

The magic was already enveloping them, but she still caught a glimpse of the look on his face before they were swept away. And she was fairly certain they would be adding _that_ to the list of things to discuss when they got home. 

She looked forward to it. If a contingent of evil witches couldn't tear them apart, she was certain that a simple argument didn't stand a chance.


End file.
